Living On The Edge
Alexa in low power mode
“And to you, my humble Alexa product manager servant, I bequeath a major announcement for your product a week in advance of Re:Invent,” sayeth the ruler of the Amazon.
I can imagine this type of conversation happening at Amazon related to Alexa for Low Power devices. This additional challenge around announcement timing was placed on someone leading the group. In the past, Amazon has made Alexa announcements around April 1, which led to confusion. Regardless of timing, the lower power device is a step in the evolution to true ubiquity of voice.
With it, a device can run the Alexa wake word and transfer audio so that processing can take place on a higher power device. It could also mean that ultra low power devices might be able to run for months at a time without charge and still be able to have an Alexa interaction.
It also opens the door for new form factors. Think clothing embedded with Alexa Built In or more wearables. Maybe pens or other small objects will be able to have voice interactions.
However, when combined with the other announcement of the day, Rekognition with edge detection, it could mean even more power in local interactions that could feed back into Alexa. Think about using a face to verify a transaction or an Alexa Skill that relies on some edge technology for gaming (charades anyone?).
The big opportunity is to develop compelling interactions that would make people want to put Alexa everyone. Until than, we’ll have a smaller and less organic growth.
